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Why Jury Duty Matters: A Citizen’s Guide to Constitutional Action

By Andrew Guthrie Ferguson
New York University Press (2012)Reviewed by Louis J. Virelli III

Why do I have to serve on a jury and why shouldn’t I do everything in my power to get out of it? These are two of the least ambitious questions addressed and answered in Andrew Ferguson’s engaging and impassioned new book Why Jury Duty Matters: A Citizen’s Guide to Constitutional Action. Ferguson, a former public defender in Washington, D.C., and currently an assistant professor at the David A. Clarke School of Law at the University of the District of Columbia, offers an insightful and beautifully written account of jury service that speaks to the prospective juror in all of us, while at the same time offering lessons in the history and constitutional significance of the jury that will be enlightening for lawyers and lay readers alike.

Perhaps the most striking feature of the book is its versatility. On the very surface,

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